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Walters: Newsom shows penchant for shiny new things on tour

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:51:25 GMT

Newsom displays penchant for shiny new things on California tourBy Dan Walters / CalMattersAs a species, politicians love news conferences and other events that celebrate new programs or public works projects.The syndrome may explain why officials often ignore long-festering problems in existing programs, such as the Employment Development Department and the bullet train project. Simply making things work better doesn’t have the political appeal of something new and shiny.Gov. Gavin Newsom is particularly prone to the affliction, declaring early on his love for “big, hairy audacious goals” and later adding, “I’d rather be accused of (having) those audacious stretch goals than be accused of timidity.”That proclivity led him, as a candidate, to pledge that he would try to solve California’s housing crisis by building 3.5 million new houses and apartments by 2025 and make California the first state to embrace single-payer health care.Later, when both proved to be unattainable, he decla...

Federal aid coming to tornado-wrecked swath of Mississippi

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:51:25 GMT

President Joe Biden issued an emergency declaration for Mississippi early Sunday, making federal funding available to the areas hardest hit Friday night by a deadly tornado that ripped through the Mississippi Delta, one of the poorest regions of the U.S.At least 25 people were killed and dozens of others were injured in Mississippi as the massive storm ripped through several towns on its hour-long path. One man was killed after his trailer home flipped several times in Alabama.Search and recovery crews on Sunday resumed the daunting task of digging through the debris of flattened and battered homes, commercial buildings and municipal offices after hundreds of people were displaced, even as the National Weather Service warned of a risk of more severe weather Sunday — including high winds, large hail and possible tornadoes — in eastern Louisiana, south central Mississippi and south central Alabama.Following Biden’s declaration, federal funding can be used for recovery efforts in Missi...

Key Bayern players signal concerns as Tuchel takes charge

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:51:25 GMT

DÜSSELDORF, Germany (AP) — Strange, a shock, a sign of how heartless soccer can be.Comments from two key Bayern Munich players hinted at unease in the squad even before new coach Thomas Tuchel takes his first training session. Midfielders Joshua Kimmich and Leon Goretzka voiced concerns Saturday following the sudden firing of Julian Nagelsmann and his replacement with Tuchel, a Champions League winner with Chelsea.“Of course it’s strange,” said Kimmich of the coaching change after captaining Germany to a 2-0 friendly win over Peru, in comments reported by German agency dpa. “At the end of the day that’s how the business is, not much love, not much heart. We have to learn to cope with and live with the decision.” Kimmich later denied he was criticizing Bayern management and said he was describing soccer in general terms, dpa reported. Kimmich had praised Nagelsmann as an “outstanding” coach Friday, hours before his departure was confirmed. His verdict on Tuchel: “I don...

Tax the rich? Chicago mayoral hopefuls debate city budget

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:51:25 GMT

CHICAGO (AP) — Ken Kunz used to know everyone in the North Side Chicago neighborhood where he’s lived for more than 40 years. But crossing paths with old friends is rare these days because longtime residents have been pushed out by new development and soaring property taxes. When they do meet, the 64-year-old says, they exchange the same greeting: “I’m so glad you’re still here.” Chicago has grown unaffordable for many working- and middle-class people like Kunz who have been “run over by development,” as he put it. That’s why he voted both in the February mayoral election and the upcoming runoff for Brandon Johnson, a former teacher and union organizer who has called for $800 million in new taxes on “the ultrarich.” “It seems like he is at least willing to represent someone who makes as much money as I do,” said Kunz, who operates his own delivery business and manages the property where he lives, which helps make rent manageable. “I just wan...

Teenager Buck scores late to lift Revolution over DC United

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:51:25 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Teenager Noel Buck scored in the 88th minute to rally the New England Revolution to 2-1 victory over DC United on Saturday night.Buck, who is 11 days shy of his 18th birthday, scored unassisted on a deflected corner kick for his second career goal and first this season.DC United took a 1-0 lead into halftime after Christian Benteke took a pass from Ruan and scored in the 45th minute.New England (4-1-0) scored the equalizer when Carles Gil picked up an assist on a goal by Gustavo Bou in the 63rd minute. It was Bou’s 42nd goal in the regular season and playoffs since he debuted for the Revs in 2019 — 11 more than any other player under coach Bruce Arena.The Revolution had a 16-14 advantage in shots, but DC United had a 7-5 edge in shots on goal.Djordje Petrovic had five saves for New England. Tyler Miller finished with three saves for DC United (1-3-1).New England improves to 8-1-0 in its last nine matches against DC United.The Revs return home to play New York...

GOP states press voter photo ID rules, with unclear effects

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:51:25 GMT

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — As Ohio’s primary approaches, a strict new photo ID requirement is stirring concerns for military veterans and out-of-state college students, in Amish communities and among older voters.Other Republican-led states are moving in the same direction as they respond to conservative voters unsettled by unfounded claims of widespread fraud and persistent conspiracy theories over the accuracy of U.S. elections. Critics characterize such requirements as an overreaction that could end up disenfranchising eligible voters.Ruth Kohake is among those caught up in the confusion over Ohio’s law, which is going into effect this year. The retired nurse from Cincinnati gave up her driver’s license and her car in 2019. Now 82, she thought she might never have to step foot in another state license agency.But Ohio now requires an unexpired photo ID in order for someone vote, and she’ll have to get that at the Bureau of Motor Vehicles. ...

Better end to the weekend, unsettled at times this week

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:51:25 GMT

7Weather- Welcome to the better day of your weekend! Yesterday’s high temperatures stayed in the low/mid 40s. Our morning lows are already doing better than that! We start out in the 40s and head for the 50s. The only downside of today- the wind gets gusty. But hey, it’s offset by some sun!Any overnight showers have pushed offshore. The weak area of low pressure that brought us rain and sleet yesterday created another area of low pressure and both continue to move away from us. That’s the reason we get the gusty wind today. The drier west wind will continue to erode some of the low cloud cover allowing us to see more sun. This afternoon, the wind will gust 30-35 mph inland, near 40 mph for the higher elevations. High temps this afternoon will be in the 50s for a lot of us.The work week brings periods of unsettled weather. Tomorrow a low pressure system forms in the Ohio Valley and heads east. That will bring most of us rain and a mix for the hills late Monday into Tuesday morning. T...

Column: 2023 MLB season begins with new rules, old narratives and the same opening-day dreams

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:51:25 GMT

After the success of the World Baseball Classic, Major League Baseball begins its regular season Thursday at a ballpark near you.It’s a little like having dessert before a full-course dinner, knowing you’ll be full by the end but not caring a bit because it tasted so good.If MLB could bottle the feeling the WBC created and repackage it in October, when competition from the NFL typically hurts its postseason ratings, it would do it in a heartbeat. Unfortunately baseball will have to count on getting a World Series matchup as delicious as the championship game between the United States and Japan.The 2023 season figures to be an important one for MLB, which instituted several rule changes in an effort to build a better relationship with younger fans allegedly turned off by long games with limited action between pitches. The balance between catering to kids raised on video games and older fans who understand the complex pitcher-hitter dynamic was difficult to reach, but the ...

With 9 games left, where do the Chicago Bulls stand in the NBA play-in tournament?

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:51:25 GMT

The Chicago Bulls are fighting for a spot in the NBA play-in tournament, a battle for the last two playoff seeds in each conference. Here’s an explainer about the history of the event and how it works — and where the Bulls stand.When did the play-in begin?The NBA introduced the idea after the restart of the pandemic-delayed 2019-20 season, with a team needing to be within four games of the No. 8 seed to force a play-in for the last playoff spot in the conference.The Memphis Grizzlies finished a half-game behind the No. 8 seed Portland Trail Blazers in the Western Conference, and the Blazers won the first game of a play-in, thus earning the final playoff spot. In the East, the ninth-place Washington Wizards finished 7½ games behind the eighth-place Orlando Magic, meaning a play-in was unnecessary.How has the tournament evolved?The next year, the NBA expanded its play-in rules, with only the top-six seeds in each conference guaranteed of a playoff spot and the Nos. 7-...

Patrick Beverley relishes the old and new in his return to Chicago. ‘Wherever I’m going, I’m going home,’ the Bulls guard says.

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:51:25 GMT

When Patrick Beverley finally came home, it wasn’t to the Chicago he used to know.This is a natural progression for any NBA athlete. Hometowns become a stop in the offseason calendar, stuck as a childhood memory as the city evolves without the athletes it raised.Now that he’s back, Beverley finds Chicago familiar and foreign all at once. He lives on a different side of the city than he grew up on, commutes each day to work at the arena where he used to sneak into games as a kid.But even with the novelty created by spending a decade away from home, Chicago is still the place that defined Beverley, a place he never really left.“I feel it every time I come into practice. I feel it every time I leave practice,” Beverley, 34, said. “I feel it every time I come into a game the same as when I leave the game. Wherever I’m going, I’m going home. I just can’t believe I’m in Chicago. It almost feels too good to be true.”It is somethin...